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Are we humans alone in the universe? Or is there intelligent life on other planets? These questions are not new. What is new, however, is the scientific attempt to discover whether or not other planets beyond our own have given birth to advanced civilizations. In the following articles, the authors desribes the scientific means now available for investigating thispossibility and discusses how probable it is that we are not alone in the universe.
我们人类在宇宙中是不是独一无二的？抑或说在别的行星上是否存在具有高度智慧的生命？这些问题都不是新的。新却是新在试图利用科学去发现我们以外的其他行星上是否产生了发达的文明世界。在这篇文章中，作者描述了目前可供调查这一可能性之用的科学手段，还讨论了在多大程度上我们在宇宙中可能不是独一无二。
The Quest for Extraterrestrial Intelligence
搜寻外星人
Carl Sagan
卡尔·萨根
Through all of our history we have pondered the stars and mused whether humanity is unique or if, somewhere else in the dark of the night sky, there are other beings who contemplateand wonder as we do, fellow thinkers in the cosmos. Such beings might view themselves and the universe differently. Somewhere else there might be very exotic biologies and technologiesand societies. In a cosmic setting vast and old beyond ordinary human understanding, we are a little lonely; and we ponder the ultimate significance, if any, of our tiny but exquisiteblue planet.
在人类历史的整个进程中，我们始终在思考着星星，沉思冥想人类是否是独一无二的，在漆黑夜空的某个地方，是否存在着别的像我们一样爱沉思和产生好奇感的生物——宇宙间的、跟我们相同的思考者。这些生物也许对自身以及对宇宙持有不同看法。在别处可能存在着十分奇特的生物、技术和社会。处在这么一种超越人类想像的浩瀚无垠和时代久远的宇宙空间里，我们略感寂寞，我们寻思着我们这颗小小的却又是精致的蔚蓝色行星可能有的最终含义。
The search for extraterrestrial intelligence is the search for a generally acceptable cosmic context for the human species. In the deepest sense, the search for extraterrestrial intelligence is a search for ourselves.
搜寻外星人，就是搜寻可以被广为接受的人类生存的宇宙环境。从根本上说，搜寻外星人就是搜寻人类自己。
